Latest news with #RussianConsulate
Arab News
02-07-2025
- Business
- Arab News
‘Business must cooperate': Russia seeks to double $1.8 billion trade with Pakistan
KARACHI: Russia seeks to double the volume of its bilateral trade with Pakistan, Russian Consul-General Andrey V. Federov said this week, amid a thaw in Moscow-Islamabad ties. Russia and Pakistan, once Cold War rivals, have strengthened ties in recent years, with Islamabad purchasing discounted Russian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas in 2023 and Moscow now planning to build a new steel mill in Karachi. The two countries traded goods and services worth $236 million from July 2024 till May 2025, compared with $1.04 billion in the same period last year, according to Pakistani central bank data. The volume of their trade rose more than 100 percent to $1.81 billion from July 2023 till June 2024, when Pakistan was facing dollar shortages and imported discounted crude oil from Russia, marking a shift from its traditional reliance on Middle Eastern suppliers. In an interview with Arab News, Federov said this volume can be boosted as the two countries have started implementing the decisions of the 9th meeting of Russia-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission, held in December, in which they agreed on a protocol for cooperation in the fields of trade, finance, energy, industry and agriculture, transport and infrastructure, business and finance, and science and technology. 'In last five years it (bilateral trade) was duplicated. Now we have one billion US dollars [of trade volume],' the Russian consul-general said, adding that the Russia-Pakistan trade turnover had showed 50 percent growth in the last five years. 'My idea [is] that we can duplicate it once again during my staying here in Karachi.' Federov didn't say when his term is going to end. Moscow could provide machinery, fertilizers, oil and gas, and some lentils and grains as part of agricultural exchange with Pakistan, according to the diplomat. Islamabad could in return supply sports goods, surgical instruments, textiles, pharmacy and kinnows that are 'very, very famous' in Russia. 'Some of the Russian leading agriculture companies are ready to work with Pakistan,' he said. 'There are a lot of things... we can exchange.' Federov said Moscow and Islamabad were working to 'create a bridge' which would stand for decades and that the bilateral trade would be sustained. 'It won't be affected by any political issues. Business must cooperate. Sorry for using this word must, but I insist that business must cooperate,' he said. Another area in which Moscow could help Pakistan was information technology (IT), according to the diplomat. Russia has a very good experience in information security, smart cities and e-government that make life of people much easier. Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) could also assist Russia in data documentation as the South Asian had a 'very good experience in this sphere.' 'World is not easy right now, and there are, as I said, a lot of spheres. We can share our experience and Pakistan also,' Federov said. 'We were together.' Besides economy and trade, Russia and Pakistan saw their interests converging on the issue of last month's Iran-Israel conflict. Together with China, the two countries co-sponsored a resolution in the United Nations, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after the conflict killed hundreds on both sides. 'We were together the cosponsors of the UN resolution on Iran situation,' the Russian envoy said. 'Our relations are very close, and we are working hard on many international issues together.' Putin last month interacted with the leaders of Iran, Israel and Pakistan to end the conflict. 'Maybe some, some of the countries are not satisfied with our role, and they want to take part of one side or another side,' the consul-general said, in an apparent reference to the United States (US) which sided with Israel and bombed Iran's nuclear facilities on June 22 before announcing a ceasefire. Federov said Moscow was 'not satisfied' with Israel's behavior in the region. 'But, also, I should say that we have good contacts also not only with Iran and Pakistan. We have good contacts with Israel,' he said. 'We do not break our relations with Israel.' Pakistan and Russia are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security organization, and have had sustained high-level interactions and institutional mechanisms. Federov said the top leadership of Pakistan and Russia had been actively interacting at different international diplomatic forums almost every year. 'Both sides realized that we cannot live without [support from] each other,' he said. Asked about Putin's long-pending visit to Pakistan, Federov said: 'We are all working on that, but we do not know the plans of the president.'
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Poland to Shut Second Russian Consulate Over Sabotage Claims
Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Krakow after saying it has proof that a large fire in the country's capital last year was ordered by Moscow's secret services, according to the Polish foreign minister. The decision, announced by Radoslaw Sikorski in an X post on Monday, comes as governments across Europe grapple with the growing threat of Russian-sponsored acts of sabotage. Concerns about hybrid war are keenly felt in Poland, a state on NATO's eastern flank which borders Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, Belarus and Ukraine.
Al Arabiya
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Poland to close Russian consulate in Krakow, citing arson attack
Poland will close the Russian consulate in Krakow after finding evidence that Moscow was responsible for a massive fire that almost completely destroyed a Warsaw shopping center in May 2024, the Polish foreign minister said on Monday. Already tense relations between Warsaw and Moscow have hit new lows since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Poland says its own role as a hub for aid for Kyiv has made it a target of Russian sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation - allegations that Moscow denies. On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland knew 'for sure' that Russian secret services were behind the huge fire on Marywilska Street in the capital. 'Due to evidence that the Russian special services committed a reprehensible act of sabotage against the shopping center on Marywilska Street, I have decided to withdraw my consent to the operation of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Krakow,' Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on X. The Russian foreign ministry said Poland was cutting its ties with Moscow on purpose, state news agency RIA reported. 'Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of its citizens,' state news agency RIA quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying. She added that Russia would soon deliver an 'adequate response.' In October, Poland announced it would shut down the Russian consulate in Poznan due to suspected Russian attempts at sabotage. Russia closed the Polish consulate in St. Petersburg in response. In addition to Krakow and Poznan, Russia has a consulate in Gdansk and its embassy in Warsaw. In March, Lithuanian prosecutors accused Russia's military intelligence of orchestrating an arson attack on an IKEA store in Vilnius, which broke out three days before the shopping center fire in neighboring Poland. Russia has denied involvement in the arson attacks.
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Poland to Close Another Russian Consulate Over Sabotage Claims
Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Krakow after saying it has proof that a large fire in the country's capital last year was ordered by Moscow's secret services, according to the Polish foreign minister. The decision, announced by Radoslaw Sikorski in an X post on Monday, comes as governments across Europe grapple with the growing threat of Russian-sponsored acts of sabotage. Concerns about hybrid war are keenly felt in Poland, a state on NATO's eastern flank which borders Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, Belarus and Ukraine.
Associated Press
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Poland orders closure of Russian consulate in Krakow, citing arson attack blamed on Moscow
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Monday that he was ordering the closure of Russia's consulate in the southern city of Krakow after Polish authorities said Russia was responsible for a fire that destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw last year. 'In connection with the evidence that the Russian special services committed a reprehensible act of sabotage against the shopping center on Marywilska Street, I have decided to withdraw my consent to the operation of the consulate of the Russian Federation in Krakow,' Sikorski said in a statement. The fire broke out May 12, 2024, in the Marywilska 44 shopping center that housed some 1,400 shops and service points. Many of the vendors were from Vietnam, and it inflicted tragedy on many in Warsaw's Vietnamese community.
